Deck 5: Principles of Design

Question 1

The architect Le Corbusier designed the Modulor, a tool he used for calculating human proportions, based upon:

A) pictorial space.
B) hierarchical scale.
C) the golden section.
D) visual weight.
E) informal balance.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In art, the design principle of balance functions to:

A) encourage our active participation in a work.
B) help communicate a work's moods.
C) lead our eyes around a work.
D) help communicate a work's meanings.
E) All of these answers are correct.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Pablo Picasso's Girl Before a Mirror explores the traditional theme of:

A) still life.
B) portraiture.
C) hierarchical scale.
D) vanitas.
E) the golden section.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Georgia O'Keeffe's painting Deer's Skull with Pedernal is a prime example of:

A) symmetrical balance.
B) hierarchical scale.
C) informal balance.
D) linear perspective.
E) horizontal symmetry.

Question 5

In a two-dimensional work of art that is balanced symmetrically, the implied center of gravity is:

A) along the vertical axis down the center of the composition.
B) eliminated altogether.
C) along the horizon line.
D) at the focal point.
E) the midpoint of the golden rectangle.

Question 6

Artists will often add ________ to provide interest and enliven the unity of a work of art.

A) vanishing points
B) variety
C) vanitas
D) golden rectangles
E) primary colors

Question 7

Edouard Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère invites us to consider points of view in its subject and composition. Interpretations of this painting include ________ approaches.

A) formalist
B) Marxist
C) feminist
D) psychoanalytic
E) All of these answers are correct.

Question 8

Paul Klee's Landscape with Yellow Birds and Kaiho Yusho's Fish Nets Drying in the Sun share a strong use of:

A) radial balance.
B) a canon.
C) a dominant focal point.
D) rhythm.
E) a directional line of sight.

Question 9

The ancient Roman architect Vitruvius associated the perfected male form with the perfect geometry of:

A) the square and rectangle.
B) the circle and square.
C) the triangle and circle.
D) the rectangle and triangle.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 10

The ancient Egyptians developed a standard set of proportions used to create images of the "correct" or "perfect" human, as have many cultures both ancient and modern. This set of proportions was created using:

A) rhythm.
B) form.
C) the golden mean.
D) the golden section.
E) a squared grid.

Question 11

Symmetrical balance, as used by Georgia O'Keeffe, expresses:

A) calmness.
B) order and authority.
C) disarray.
D) independence.
E) rebellion.

Question 12

Another term for asymmetrical balance is:

A) radial balance.
B) visual weight.
C) scale.
D) informal balance.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 13

Annette Messager's Mes Voeux and Joseph Cornell's The Hotel Eden both demonstrate the use of:

A) conceptual unity.
B) radial balance.
C) grand scale.
D) the golden section.
E) All of these answers are correct.

Question 14

In a two-dimensional work with asymmetrical balance, the appearance of balance is achieved by:

A) following a canon.
B) the use of ideal proportions.
C) distributing visual weight accordingly.
D) All of these: following a canon; the use of ideal proportions; and distributing visual weight accordingly.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 15

Henry Ossawa Tanner's The Banjo Lesson creates emphasis through:

A) size and placement of the figures.
B) directional lines of sight leading to a focal point.
C) contrasting values of dark skin against a pale background.
D) elimination of detail and bright colors in the background.
E) All of these answers are correct.

Question 16

Which work of art uses hierarchical scale?

A) a royal altar to the hand
B) Deer's Skull with Pedernal
C) façade of Sant'Andrea, Mantua
D) The Large Bathers
E) Study of Human Proportions According to Vitruvius

Question 17

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen created shock value through use of:

A) symmetry.
B) repetition.
C) scale.
D) abstraction.
E) variety.

Question 18

The use of scale to indicate relative importance is known as ________ scale.

A) proportional
B) hierarchical
C) golden
D) rhythmic
E) symmetrical

Question 19

Rather than depend solely upon visual unity, an artist will sometimes create ________ unity by unifying the ideas in a work of art.

A) idealized
B) invisible
C) conceptual
D) ideological
E) symmetrical

Question 20

The Thirteen-Diety Jnanadakini Mandala uses ________ to suggest that there is a hidden order to the universe.

A) perspective
B) asymmetry
C) proportion
D) symmetry
E) the golden section

Question 21

Choose three works that utilize rhythm and compare the emotional and intellectual responses they evoke in you.

Question 22

Consider Alberti's Façade of Sant'Andrea, Mantua, and Le Corbusier's Notre-Dame-du-Haut in Ronchamp, France. Identify the historical eras in which each architect worked. Then analyze the visual rhythms and use of symmetry and proportion in these buildings, noting how these characteristics impact our understanding of them.

Question 23

Consider Matisse's Memory of Oceania and Klee's Landscape with Yellow Birds, both included in this chapter of the text. Select three of the principles of design and discuss how each artist has used these principles in his work.

Question 24

Consider Klimt's Death and Life and Goya's Executions of the Third of May, 1808, both included in this chapter of the text. Discuss the ways in which each artist visually established focal points or areas of interest.

Question 25

Explain how artists use the elements of shape, color, texture, and value to create visual balance. Use at least two works of art from other chapters as examples of formal and informal balance.

Question 26

Consider Leonardo da Vinci's Study of Human Proportions according to Vitruvius, included in this chapter of the text. Identify the century in which Leonardo worked, and discuss his use of proportion in this piece.

Question 27

Discuss at least three ways that artists create compositional unity in a work, referring to specific works of art to support your statements.

Question 28

Compare and contrast form and content in two works, one of which has visual unity and the other conceptual unity.

Question 29

Select any work in the chapter, except Picasso's Girl Before a Mirror. Identify it by artist, title, and medium. Then identify at least three of the elements of art that the artist has included. Next, indicate three of the principles of design that are evident in the work and describe how the artist has used these elements and principles to convey information through form as well as through content.

Question 30

Discuss the effects--both visual and emotional--of the symmetry of the Tibetan Thirteen-Deity Jnanadakini Mandala, or of another religious work that employs formal symmetry.